Following God Takes Courage…

I Samuel 16:1-11 Following God takes courage…

.

A few months ago, I preached from 1 Samuel about the prophet, Samuel and then the first king in Israel, Saul.

And Saul, he started off as a good King, full of the Holy Spirit, HUMBLE…but by ch 13, he drifted far away from God.

In ch 14-15 One of the stories we studied …

When war was eminent… Saul could not wait for the priest, Samuel to do a sacrifice for their sins and ask God to bless them.….so King Saul did it… He was fearful of the war beginning before the sacrifice…But It was blatant disobedience to God and his Laws.… But the problem was deeper….Saul could not trust God. He had to control and make all decisions. Then Samuel arrived,

1 Samuel in ch 15:22 Samuel the prophet says to King Saul…..

“Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices

as much as in obedience to His voice?

Behold, obedience is better than sacrifice,

and attentiveness is better than the fat of rams.

What is it saying? obedience to God was more important than when a person offers a burnt offering or sacrifice. YOU SEE, sacrifices are IMPORTANT… God demands a blood sacrifice for sin. A lamb. But what truly delights God’s heart? When Words: The Lord DELIGHTS in what? Your obedience is more pleasing than the sacrifices or to do GOOD WORKS. Why? Obeying God is shown by your choice to follow Him instead of doing your own thing. Attentive to God (paying attention)

Then look at the next verses:

. 23….Because you have rejected the word of the LORD,

He has rejected you as king.”

But Saul does not get it and Samuel tells him that God has rejected him as king. THAT TAKES COURAGE>>>

Samuel left and in verse 35

35 Until the day Samuel died, he did not go to see Saul again, though Samuel mourned for him. And the Lord regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel.

Why are they mourning and grieving? They know Saul’s potential, but he has chosen poorly. And will miss out on God’s blessing because of his ego. And I wanted you to also realize that when you sin or walk away from god…

God grieves over us when we sin. It is personal to Him. Have you ever grieved over someone’s poor choices? I have . And GOD GRIEVES OVER OUR SELFISH CHOICES.

This now brings us to chapter 16 verse 1

The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king.”

We don’t know the length of time between chapter 15 and 16… but it does tell us something.

A.. THE PROBLEM OF GETTING STUCK IN THE PAST/ there is a time to MOVE ON

1. There IS a season for mourning, (woe is me) but there’s also a season for MOVING on. Many people struggle with that. WALLOW>>> MUD AND MIRE>>>> We all have pain in our past – circumstances/people that wounded us - and we struggle to emotionally deal with it. Sometimes going to a counselor helps us to get it in perspective and let go.

QUOTES

“Getting over a painful experience is much like crossing monkey bars. You must let go at some point in order to move forward.” – C.S. Lewis.

2. Lesson to learn here: Frequently we find ourselves going over the same ground: Why did this happen to me? Why did they hurt me? Why did I do this or that? We keep meditating on the past. The question is? What good will that do? We can’t change it!

THERE’S TWO CHOICES for a hurting past

1. You can keep talking about the hurt and stay in the mud. FESTER

2. Or after a time of mourning… you let it go. LET IT GO and move on. It does NOT DEFINE YOU nor does it define your tomorrows

In chapter 15 to 16= Samuel Kept mourning ….So God says, move on. Let Saul do his thing, but you move on. Ask people for forgiveness and they refuse to forgive… MOVE on. Give it to God. You do the right thing.

BUT HOW?

4. God is saying today, “Let go of the past! Put it behind you. I Give it to HIM. I have new things ahead for you, focus on those!”

For me, the best way to put away a painful event. I take out a shoe box in my mind. (I take out an actual one). I tell God all the hurts from this event. I then label it with a marker. (mine is” the piano”) And then I give it to Jesus. He takes it and he puts it in his closet. He tells me the memory now belongs to him and I need to leave it with Him and never think about it again.